BI Consuming more CPU on a newer processor?

[ccaru]

Hi all,

to the more technically minded out there, I have a question:

I have been running BI on an old Dell Precision Laptop (always plugged in, at full power, with whatever power saving settings i could switch off). It got it to run pretty stable, but it's lately given up, hardware wise.

The processor was an Intel I7 2760QM (Sandy Bridge), running 16GB RAM, storing onto its own SSD. It did have an NVIDIA GPU but due it being old it wasn't supported very well and I switched off H/W Acceleration completely. It was running at around 40% CPU and all was stable.

I have now transferred my setup on a more recent laptop - this time with an I7 7660U (Kaby Lake) processor. I have configured it in exactly the same way as the old one. Still 16GB RAM and storing to an SDD. Still all H/W acceleration switched off (for now), and the CPU load is almost maxing out at 100%.

The only thing I can say is this: With the old one, if it did max out (e.g. heavy playback at fast speed on multiple cameras) the whole thing would come to a stop, however with the new one it seems like it still continues working relatively smoothly, even though not very responsive.

Is there any logical explanation for this?

thanks!
Claude

 

[wittaj]

Blue Iris is not intended to be ran on laptops as BI needs to run 24/7. Laptops are designed to slow the CPU to keep the core temperature down. When that happens, your CPU maxes out.

The "U" means the chip is designed for laptops and mobile devices, as "U" chips are Intel's "ultra-low power" models. They're "low power" because they use even less power than the "T" models and have slower clock speeds than their full-size, non "U" equivalents. But the U and T are not intended to be 24/7 operation.

Now some have been able to make laptops work if they do not have a lot of cameras and have followed EVERY optimization wiki out there. But we should be following the optimization even if it isn't a laptop.

So the question is are you following EVERY optimization as outlined in the wiki? Direct to Disc and substreams are the biggest CPU savers...many times people try their own settings without realizing what they do and are actually counter to what they are trying to accomplish.

Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage

Blue Iris uses a lot of CPU time. In most Blue Iris installations, your CPU is the limiting factor which determines how many cameras you can have. As such, it is extremely important to optimize your configuration to ensure you can get the most out of your system while consuming the least...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[ccaru]

Hi, thanks for the feedback. I am fully aware about the laptop issue. However my older setup was also a laptop. Yes indeed I followed all optimisations in the wiki (except the part on configuring substreams but this was the case also on the older laptop).
I am just wondering why would there be this difference when both are laptops and both are configured in exactly the same manner, and given that the CPU's are a few generations apart, I wouldn't have expected this performance hit.
.... if indeed there is a performance hit and it's not just the % being displayed differently... is that also possible?

 

[wittaj]

Even though your previous one is older, it is a QM which means quad core model. Most laptops are only dual core, so double the cores could mean better performance over a newer U unit. The U will favor lower power more so than the QM and as a result will slow the CPU down to save power. The laptop has no idea what Blue Iris is and doesn't care if slowing down the CPU results in problems as that processor is designed to favor low power over performance.

Switch to the substreams and you will see a big improvement and is an absolute game changer. You do not miss anything as a result of substreams. A member here is running 50 cameras with an i7 4790 and was at 100% CPU and was looking for recommendations for a new machine. After strong persuasion by many of us, he reluctantly agreed to do every optimization and is now at 30% CPU.

 

[ccaru]

Thanks for the insight. Then I guess it will have to be that way. I am just surprised that since the laptop is always connected to power it would still favor low power consumption over performance.
I'll surely look into the substreams if they are that helpful.

 

[wittaj]

Yep, the letter after the intel number is critical into its overall performance.

And yes, the substreams are an absolute game changer. It has allowed many folks to not have to update their computer despite upgrading and adding more cameras.

 

[Old Timer]

I have always wondered if you could add forces air (fan) on a laptop, and increase performance.

You would have to figure how the air goes in and out of the laptop and see how to augment it.

 

[bp2008]

i7-2760QM is 4C / 8T at 2.4 GHz base, 3.5 GHz turbo. 45 watt TDP.
i7-7660U is 2C / 4T at 2.5 GHz base, 4.0 GHz turbo. 15 watt TDP.

So the newer one can only come close to the performance of the older one when it is at max turbo speed, which it cannot achieve for very long because it was designed for a third of the power consumption. Most likely when you run it heavily in Blue Iris, its clock speed will be low to mid 3 GHz range if not lower -- it depends on the specific laptop's cooling design and various power settings. This is a common design in thin and light laptops or tablets. They have high turbo clock speeds but aren't designed to maintain those high speeds for any longer than it takes to load a complex web page.

 

[ccaru]

That's interesting, thanks.
In fact, power consumption (or rather the lack thereof) is also in my list of priorities. If I find it throttles CPU and it's showing 90% and it's still useable, while saving power, to me that's better than having a monster running at 35% and consuming 4X the power.
I'll configure sub streams and see how things go.
I typically upgrade my setup every four years or so so my Blue Iris machine is my second in line "hand me down"

 

[SouthernYankee]

looking at CPU rating on the passmark website PassMark - CPU Benchmarks - CPU Mega Page - Detailed List of Benchmarked CPUs

the i7-2760QM has 4 cores and has a performance rating of 4406
The I7-7660U has 2 cores and has a performance rating of 4207.

The new processor is slower than the old processor.

The new process will be able to do hardware acceleration quicksync in BI.

 

[ccaru]

ok... I get it now !
I just configured substreams and my CPU is averaging 15%.... !!!!
thank you very much for all your recommendations on this!

 

[wittaj]

I told you it was a game changer!

 

[ccaru]

..and you were right So happy with the new setup Everything is 100X more responsive. Thanks again!